Wisconsin winters pose a challenge to everyone living in this great state, from the cold weather to the treacherous driving conditions. But, we all know how to drive in this, right?
Do we though? We’ve all seen it, especially in the beginning of the season- spin-outs, fishtails and spinning tires. Wisconsinites pride themselves in being able to drive in sloppy weather, but from what I see, anecdotally at least, that is NOT the case.
Well there’s a place you can actually put your winter driving to the test. It’s the Winter Driving School at Road America. I spoke to one of the driving instructors at Road America, John Ewert, to find out what he’s been seeing.
He says it’s hard to switch gears, especially with such a long, warm autumn.
“It does take a little bit of a transition from the summer months into the fall months into the winter months, and we encourage people to be aware of that and drive a little bit more carefully, if there’s different road conditions,” says Ewert.
And it’s hard not to rely on some of the new bells and whistles on our cars.
“Four wheel drive and all wheel drive, even traction control in vehicles creates an over-confidence with drivers. And in reality, four wheel drive is used for off-road driving, not necessarily snow and ice. It helps you get out of sticky situations when you’re off the beaten path. But it doesn’t allow you any more traction when you’re on the roadway,” explains Ewert.
Interested in taking one of their courses? Check them out here. (https://www.roadamerica.com/winter-driving)
And as an added reminder, Governor Evers has declared this week, November 13th through the 17th as Winter Weather Awareness week. Did you know that according to preliminary data from the DOT, 41 people were killed and over 3500 were injured in the state in 2022 from crashes involving winter road conditions?
It comes down to staying in control, keep your speeds down on the worst of conditions, extend your braking distance and let’s give everyone a little break… at least until we get used to the conditions.
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